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Huckleberry Finn Rhetorical Analysis

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According to South African President Mahatma Ghandi, "Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, through satire Mark Twain portrays a need for a more diverse society. Throughout the novel, Huck, a young white boy, takes an adventure in order to free Jim, an uneducated slave. Along their adventure the two combat racism, scams, feuds, and greed. At the time of the novel's release, white southerners harbored racist ideals, a normal viewpoint for the time period. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn subverts racist beliefs through the development of Huck’s friendship with Jim and through Twain's satirization of the KKK. Mark Twain subverts racism through the development of Huck and Jims friendship in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The two form such a close friendship, leading to a father son bond. In the novel, Huck enjoys spending time with Jim; he comments how “‘This is nice,’ I says. ‘I wouldn’t want to be nowhere else but here’” (Twain 49). During the time period, southerners would see Jim as evil whereas Twain portrays him as a reliable and friendly character. On the other hand, Pap would be seen as the better person during the time …show more content…

Twain satirizing the KKK serves as a relevant purpose because Sherburn’s speech portrays how Twain believes that racists represent cowards and their ridiculous ideas serve no good purpose. Sherburn knows that the mob is “afraid to back down- afraid you’ll be found out what you are- cowards” (Twain 146). Twain satirizes the KKK through innuendo by describing them as cowards because they wear masks, only come out in groups, and can only be found at night. Twain disagrees with the KKK and their beliefs and wants to portray to his readers that the cowardly people behind them have no strength. The ideas Twain subverts still remain present in society

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Those who feel the novel encourages racism say that because of the stereotypes used when featuring Jim, how Huck and Tom treated Jim, and how often the N-word is brought up Twain had hoped to encourage racism. However there is still strong evidence that proves why that might be a misunderstanding. If twain was intending to encourage racism then why would he make Him seem so much of a better person than the duke, king, and Huck's father. Also when Twain illustrates the black and white symbolism he portrayed Him as white man and Huck's father, who is a white man, as dark and scary. Then throughout the story as a reader you feel empathy for Jim he begins to become one of the favorite characters in the novel.

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Lester argues that the improper portrayal of African Americans is detrimental to education. Lester mentions that Jim, an African-American, is portrayed as a “childlike” character, “more like one of the boys in Tom Sawyer’s gang than a grown man with a wife and children” (Lester 202). The character built around Jim is most likely a stereotype meant for black individuals, Twain's use of characterization does not effectively challenge racism rather it creates a stereotype of what a person might act like because of their race. Lester also argues that Twain intentionally added racial stereotypes to make it appealing to white readers “because it permits their own ‘humanity’ to shine with more luster” (Lester 203). The improper portrayal can be seen in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when Tom decides “There ain’t necessity enough in this case and, besides, Jim’s a n*****, and wouldn’t understand the reasons for it, and how its the custom in Europe”

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